AI-Enhanced "Ghost" Interacts with Trick-or-Treaters

Looking for some crafty, tech-fueled Halloween inspiration this week? Maker and developer Nathan NathanBuildsDiy built a spooky Raspberry Pi-powered Halloween project—an AI ghost named Casper that talks to trick-or-treaters. Intended to be lighthearted and funny, Nathan says his idea was to create an interactive ghost who could exchange conversation with trick-or-treaters as they approached the house.

Casper reportedly can sense when people are near and uses AI to spit out a variety of conversation types, from answers to questions to Halloween-related jokes.

In the video, Nathan explains that his ghostly design has four main elements. It incorporates a distance sensor to watch for nearby trick-or-treaters. As they get closer, a microphone picks up audio, which is converted to text. This text is parsed through an AI system that generates responses.

Powering this project is a Raspberry Pi 5, which is connected to an ultrasonic sensor inside a bowtie. LEDs are used to light up the ghost's eyes and mouth. The head is a 3D-printed frame that is open source, with STLs that anyone can use to download and print.

The video offers greater detail about the software involved in the project. Major components of the project include Vosk for text-to-speech and Google Gemini for the AI processing. Those interested can check out the source code at GitHub.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.